CAT S60 thermal imaging smartphone hands-on review

The Cat S60 is also equipped with 3 GB of LPDDR3 memory, 32 GB of NAND flash storage (expandable using a microSD card), an underwater 13 MP main camera with dual-LED flash as well as a 5 MP front-facing camera, Wi-Fi, 4G LTE and Bluetooth wireless technologies, a host of sensors as well as a 3800 mAh battery. The Cat S60 is the first phone to contain FLIR thermal imaging. The tech firm is promoting its flagship smartphone for outdoor users and professionals who regularly work in the field like construction workers, emergency first responders and utility workers. The company will showcase the device at MWC 2016 in Barcelona next week.

It’s called the Cat S60 and has two cameras that work together: a regular one provides an outline of objects as seen in visible light, and a thermal camera shows thermal footprints, normally invisible to the naked eye.

The S60 is the first smartphone in the world to feature a thermal camera that lets you view heat signatures.

You can use it for a huge number of tasks, from detecting heat loss around windows and doors to identifying overheating circuitry, or just seeing in the dark. It’s clearly a niche product for now, but if we start to see Flir’s cameras in more smartphones then there’s potential for developers to take an interest and develop apps and games for thermal imaging that regular consumers might use.

The S60 has a very rugged look and isn’t the slimmest device around. It has a die-cast frame, is drop-proof to 1.8 meters, meeting MIL Spec 810G. Here, Cat integrates the technology directly into a handset with an onboard camera system made by thermal imaging specialist FLIR Systems.

Launching in June, the Cat S60 will cost $599 (€649, £500) and will be sold unlocked, so can be used on any network.

Sure, the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones are slim and stylish, but they can be as delicate as a vase in an antique shop if you’re not careful.